#ATP Challenger final

[compress1repress]

part 4 of the reader x tashi x art x patrick band au - they find reader's old fan account (slightly nsfw) (also art sexts in third person lol)

(their profiles, part 1, part 2, part 3)

[janniksinnerswife]

First time was nice,he had to do it twice🦊🥕

I'm so proud of him..he dreserves it!🥕🦊🧡🫶🏼🎀

[fritzes]

tennis players + @screenshotsofdespair part 6

[stateofsport211]

Know Your Talents: 2024 ATP NextGen Finals Introductory Post

The 2024 ATP NextGen Finals Class of 2024 (📸 NextGen Finals' official Twitter)

It is that time of the year again when the 8 best under-20 players of the 2024 season battle it out at the 2024 NextGen Finals, which will be held in Jeddah starting today (December 18). However, in contrast to being the season-ending campaign for them, it could be treated as one of their preparations to start the next season, as it is organized in transition between the end of the 2024 season and the beginning of the 2025 season (December 18-22, 2024), the timing when other exhibition tournaments take place.

Interestingly, the qualification window for this year's NextGen Finals ended at the end of the 2024 ATP Challenger Tour season (December 1) according to the rulebook, allowing the lower end of the Race to slightly heighten up, while no wild card is awarded due to no U-20 player standing out from the region, which meant all 8 players qualified through the Race. As a result, the last few names were attained at the end of November after several other names nearby got eliminated early in their pursuit to qualify for this event. As a reminder, they will play in best-of-five mini-sets (first to 4 games), with a tie-break to be played at 3-3, deciding points (servers' choice) every deuce without let on serve.

Featuring 4 players in the Top 50 for the first time since 2018 despite being U-20 only, hereby introducing this year's NextGen Finalists and their #JourneytoJeddah according to their seedings and respective groups:

Blue Group

1. Arthur Fils

Arthur Fils with his Hamburg 500 title (📸 Univers Tennis)

Arthur Fils' points to 6-5* 40-ad (latest set point) in Estoril (250) R1 (top left), to save a match point to 6-6(6-6), 2nd set in Tokyo (500) finals (top right), and his breakthrough highlights of 2024 (bottom) (📸📝BeIN Sports ID, ATP official website, and Tennis TV via Tennis Channel)

One of the front-runners of this year’s NextGen Finals, A. Fils enjoyed his further breakthrough after becoming the runner-up to Hamad Medjedovic in last year’s iteration 1-4, 2-4, 4-3(9), 1-4. Despite the slow start to the season, especially as he tried his hands in the Golden Swing (including a straight-set loss to Joao Fonseca in the first-round match of the Rio de Janeiro (500)) instead of his favorite European indoor-Middle Eastern swing, it steadily paid off as he won the Bordeaux (175) title rather than defending his Lyon (250) title, defeating Pedro Martinez 6-2, 6-3 thanks to a dominant play. Before that, he retired Joao Sousa 7-5, 6-4 in the Estoril (250) first round before bowing out to Cristian Garin 6-2, 4-6, 4-6 in the second round.

Performing even better in the second half of the season, A. Fils defeated Dominic Stricker, Hubert Hurkacz, and Roman Safiullin in the first three rounds of the Wimbledon Championships before being defeated by Alex de Minaur 2-6, 4-6, 6-4, 3-6 in the fourth round. He went on to reach his maiden 500-level final in Hamburg (500), defeating Alexander Zverev 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(1) for his first 500-level title. Not long after, he won his second 500-level title in Tokyo (500), snapping Ugo Humbert's perfect finals record after saving a match point, turning the match around with a final scoreline of 5-7, 7-6(3), 6-3 in 3 hours and 4 minutes. Followed by a semifinal appearance in Vienna (500) (l. Ben Shelton 3-6, 6-7(9)) and being eliminated in the third round of Paris M1000 (l. A. Zverev 4-6, 6-3, 3-6), A. Fils enjoyed a career-high ranking of 20 to close his stellar 2024 season, qualifying him for this tournament right away.

4. Jakub Mensik

Jakub Mensik (right) as the Doha (250) runner-up to Karen Khachanov (left) (📸 El Mundo Deportivo via EFE)

Jakub Mensik's points to hold 3-3 in the 1st set of his Doha (250) final (top left), to 2-1* 15-15 in the 2nd set of his Rome M1000 1st round match (top right), and to break 3-0 in the 2nd set of his Vienna (500) second round match (bottom) (📸 ATP Tour's official Twitter via TennisTV)

After notably ending his season with his maiden Challenger-level quarterfinal appearance in Danderyd (d. Hamad Medjedovic 4-6, 7-6(2), 7-6(8) in the second round only to be defeated by his fellow #NextGenATP Alexander Blockx 0-6, 3-6 in the quarterfinals), J. Mensik began his season by becoming the runner-up of the Canberra Challenger (l. Dominik Koepfer 3-6, 2-6) before advancing to the second round of the Australian Open as a qualifier (l. Hubert Hurkacz 7-6(9), 1-6, 7-5, 1-6, 3-6). He then continued by reaching the semifinals of the Manama Challenger (l. Mikhail Kukushkin 3-6, 2-6), boldening his breakthrough by becoming the runner-up of Doha (250) the week after to Karen Khachanov 6-7(12), 4-6. However, he was sidelined due to an elbow injury, trying to come back in Madrid Masters 1000 only to retire at the start of the second set against Felix Auger-Aliassime 1-6, 0-1, forcing him to be sidelined for the rest of the clay season. He cited that the biomechanics of his serve caused the injury, making necessary adjustments for the rest of the season (apart from taking his final exams at school, where he got 4 As).

The Czech youngster then came back stronger during the grass season, reaching the quarterfinals of Mallorca (250) (l. Alejandro Tabilo 4-6, 4-6) before exiting early in the first round of Wimbledon to Alexander Bublik 6-4, 7-6(3), 4-6, 4-6, 2-6. Adding to his breakthrough year, he became the semifinalist of Umag (250) (l. Lorenzo Musetti 4-6, 1-6), partaking in his first Summer Olympics as he got eliminated against Tommy Paul 3-6, 1-6 in the second round. His progress became more evident in the other hard-court season, where he reached the third round of the US Open (l. Nuno Borges 7-6(3), 1-6, 6-3, 6-7(6), 0-6), as well as reaching the quarterfinals of the Shanghai M1000 (l. Novak Djokovic 7-6(4), 1-6, 4-6). He then concluded his season with a stellar showing in Vienna (500), being a quarterfinalist to Alex de Minaur 7-6(2), 3-6, 4-6 before retiring against Corentin Moutet upon the conclusion of the first set in the second qualifying round of Paris M1000 (6-7(3), ret.) due to fatigue,  considering his Vienna run. He ended his season with a career-high ranking of 48, actually setting his goal to “stay injury-free,” considering the physical issues that often appeared from some thrilling matches. To top it off, he is deservingly being voted by his fellow players as the "Newcomer of the Year," announced right before the NextGen Finals.

6. Joao Fonseca

Joao Fonseca celebrating his victory in the Rio de Janeiro (500), where he reached his maiden ATP-level quarterfinals (📸 Tennis.com)

Joao Fonseca's points to 4-2, 2nd set, in his Asuncion Challenger final match (top left), to break back 5-5 in the 2nd set in his Lexington Challenger second-round match (top right), and setting up his latest set point before taking the 2nd set 7-6(8) in his Brest Challenger quarterfinal match (bottom) (📸 ATP official website, BeIN Sports ID)

J. Fonseca’s big raw potential was spotted in the South American Challenger circuit as early as 2022, reaching his first Challenger-level quarterfinal in Sao Leopoldo at that time after stunning Mariano Navone 3-6, 6-1, 7-6(9) in the second round, bowing out to Facundo Bagnis 3-6, 4-6 in the quarterfinals. Since then, he has taken the world by storm, peaking through winning the 2023 US Open Junior Boys' Singles by defeating his fellow #NextGenATP Learner Tien 4-6, 6-4, 6-3 after a rain delay interrupted the match. The Brazilian then started the year by winning the Buenos Aires 2 (Argentino) Challenger title with Pedro Sakamoto (d. Jakob Schnaitter/Mark Wallner 6-2, 6-2 as alternates), preceding his bigger breakthrough in Rio de Janeiro (500) as a wild card as he knocked out Arthur Fils in straight sets in a talent-off and Cristian Garin in the round after, setting up a rematch of his second-round Sao Leopoldo Challenger from 2 years ago despite the loss against Mariano Navone 6-2, 3-6, 3-6 in his maiden ATP-level quarterfinals.

Afterward, J. Fonseca, who already enrolled at the University of Virginia at the end of 2023, forewent his eligibility and turned pro, enjoying notable milestones along the way despite the rollercoasters. He went on to reach his maiden Challenger-level final in Asuncion after saving 2 match points in the quarterfinals against Orlando Luz 3-6, 7-6(4), 6-2 before Gustavo Heide got the best out of him in the finals 5-7, 7-6(6), 1-6 in a battle for their maiden Challenger title. He reaped his rewards when he received wild cards to Estoril (250), Bucharest (250), and Madrid M1000, racking up experience despite the early exits. His moment then finally came as he won the Lexington Challenger, defeating Li Tu 6-1, 6-4 in the finals, followed by advancing to the US Open third qualifying round as he lost the tight match against University of Texas alumnus Eliot Spizzirri 6-7(8), 7-6(5), 4-6. Continuing his season indoors, he notably saved 10 match points across the second and the third sets before being defeated by eventual runner-up Benjamin Bonzi 4-6, 7-6(8), 4-6 in the Brest Challenger quarterfinals, surviving a talent-off by defeating Martin Landaluce 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(9) in the Lyon (Décines-Charpieu) Challenger quarterfinals before bowing out to one of the indoor goats Calvin Hemery 6-7(5), 4-6 in the semifinals. From here alone, he attained his career-high ranking of 145 by November 18, 2024, securing his qualification to the NextGen Finals thanks to his powerful play, crediting the Challenger Tour for his development.

7. Learner Tien

Learner Tien won his maiden Challenger-level title in the Bloomfield Hills Challenger (📸 Shankar Iyer/Cranbrook Tennis Classic via Tennis TourTalk)

Learner Tien's points to *2-2 15-15 in the 1st set of his Bloomfield Hills Challenger second-round match (top left), to break 5-3 in the second set of his Tiburon Challenger second-round match (top right), and to start the second game of the first set of his famous Fairfield Challenger final match (bottom) (📸 ATP official website)

Former junior World No. 4 (attained in 2023) Learner Tien, who is named after his mother's profession as a teacher, took the world by storm starting his runner-up to Alexander Blockx in the 2023 Australian Open Junior Boys' Singles, winning the U-18 National Championships in the United States two consecutive times (2022-23), which qualified him for the US Open Main Draw wild card. To add, he became the runner-up to Joao Fonseca in the 2023 US Open Junior Boys' Singles (with the final scoreline of 4-6, 6-3, 3-6), whom he will face in this group as well. He attended the University of Southern California in 2022/23, where he earned the All-Pac-12 honorable mention in a shortened season, going 3-0 in singles at the No. 2 position, and 6-3 in doubles at the No. 1 spot.

While his professional journey has had its ups and downs, Learner started to gain more attention in the middle of 2024, kickstarting what would be his 28-match winning streak by winning titles in ITF M15 San Diego (May 27 and Jun 3) before continuing with another title in ITF M15 Rancho Santa Fe (Jun 17). The streak did not stop as he won his maiden Challenger title in the Bloomfield Hills Challenger, defeating Nishesh Basavareddy 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in an extremely dynamic affair, surviving all his previous rounds in 3 sets. It did not end from here as he went on to win the ITF M15 Lakewood (Jul 8) by defeating Govind Nanda 6-3, 6-3, but his winning streak was snapped by Yunchaokete Bu 4-6, 5-7 in the semifinals of the Chicago Challenger before reaching his maiden ATP-level quarterfinal as a qualifier in Winston-Salem (250) (l. Pablo Carreno Busta 4-6, 2-6). Learner then won the Las Vegas Challenger by defeating Tristan Boyer 7-5, 1-6, 6-3 before crushing Bernard Tomic 6-0, 6-1 to win the Fairfield Challenger title in 39 minutes, setting the record for the all-time fastest Challenger final both in game (13 games) and duration (39 minutes), as well as becoming the fourth American to win 3 Challenger titles before turning 19 right behind Taylor Fritz, Andy Roddick, and Sam Querrey. Learner then closed the season with a runner-up in the Knoxville Challenger to Christopher Eubanks 5-7, 6-7(9), reaching a career-high ranking of 114 to open up a possibility for a Top 100 ascension apart from qualifying for the NextGen Finals, inducting himself to the ITF Class of 2024 thanks to his rapid rise.

Red Group

2. Alex Michelsen

Alex Michelsen (right) before contesting his 2024 Newport (250) final against Marcos Giron (left) (📸 Tennis TV)

Alex Michelsen's point to 1-0* 0-15 (2nd set) in his Newport (250) semifinal match (left) and to 6-6(3-0) (1st set tie-break) at his Winston-Salem (250) first-round match (right) (📸 Tennis Channel and Tennis TV)

Also a repeater from the 2023 NextGen Finals (eliminated in the group stage) thanks to his rise that peaked with the Knoxville Challenger title last year, A. Michelsen became a direct entrant to the 2024 Australian Open, qualified for the third round before being eliminated to Alexander Zverev 2-6, 6-7(4), 2-6. He also notably forced the issue when he saved 3 match points before being defeated by Jordan Thompson 6-0, 6-7(1), 5-7 in the quarterfinals after recording one of his biggest victories by knocking out Alex de Minaur 6-4, 6-1 the round before in Los Cabos (250). After a decent start to the hard-court season, the American accustomed himself to the red-clay season by partaking in the Oeiras 3 Challenger, defeating home favorite Henrique Rocha 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the first round before Dennis Novak knocked him out 6-7(3), 4-6 in the second round, but he ended his subpar clay season with an early exit to Alex de Minaur 1-6, 0-6, 2-6 in the first round of Roland Garros.

A. Michelsen then bounced back in the grass and hard-court seasons. Despite kicking off his grass season with a straight-set loss to a resurgent Paul Jubb, he continued by reaching another quarterfinal in Mallorca (250), where Alejandro Tabilo won 6-4, 6-4, but exited early in a 5-set first-round Wimbledon match against Lloyd Harris. The American then closed the grass season by retaining his runner-up position in Newport (250), where Marcos Giron got the best out of him 6-7(4), 6-3, 7-5 in the finals. He then became the runner-up of Winston-Salem (250) to Lorenzo Sonego 0-6, 3-6, but notably defeated Stefanos Tsitsipas 4-6, 6-1, 6-2 in the first round of Tokyo (500) before losing to Tomas Machac 6-7(2), 3-6 in the second round. Indoors, he confidently knocked out Hubert Hurkacz 6-3, 6-1 in the first round of Paris M1000 before being eliminated in the round after, becoming the Metz (250) semifinalist by knocking out the likes of Richard Gasquet and Harold Mayot before a comeback Benjamin Bonzi bettered him with the final scoreline of 6-4, 0-6, 5-7. By November 11, 2024, he reached his career-high ranking of 48, qualifying himself for the NextGen Finals alongside his junior buddies (in his batch) Learner Tien and Nishesh Basavareddy.

3. Juncheng Shang

Juncheng Shang with his maiden ATP title in Chengdu (250) (📸 CFP via CGTN)

Juncheng Shang's point to save the second match point to 6-6(8-8) in his Hong Kong (250) first-round match (left) and to break 6-5 (1st set) in his Chengdu (250) final match (right) (📸 Tennis TV, ATP official website)

Also having immense potential to his name, Jerry became the first Chinese man to win the Australian Open main draw match in 2023 by defeating Oscar Otte 6-2, 6-4, 6-7(2), 7-5 in the first round. Since then, despite some fitness-questioning moments, Jerry continued to make his mark, which was just the beginning of what could be a career. Fast-forward to the start of the 2024 season, Jerry qualified for the Hong Kong (250) semifinal as a wild card before bowing out to Andrey Rublev 6-4, 2-6, 3-6, also receiving a wild card to the Australian Open, where he knocked out Mackenzie McDonald and Sumit Nagal before retiring against Carlos Alcaraz 1-6, 1-6, 0-1 in the third round. He continued his strides in the Sunshine Double, where he notably reached the second round of the Indian Wells M1000 as a qualifier (d. Jordan Thompson 6-2, 6-3 in the first round before being eliminated to Alexander Bublik 4-6, 1-6). On the clay-court season, he notably partook in the Madrid Challenger, defeating Alejandro Moro Canas 7-5, 6-2 in a tight match before being eliminated in the next round against Marc-Andrea Huesler 4-6, 6-3, 5-7 in a classic encounter. Right after, he reached the second round of Barcelona (500) and Madrid M1000 (l. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 5-7, 3-6 in a match famous for its double-bounce incident midway), ending his clay season with a semifinal appearance in Bordeaux Challenger (l. Pedro Martinez 5-7, 2-6) before suffering an early exit in the first qualifying round of the Roland Garros to Roman Andres Burruchaga 4-6, 6-7(5).

Furthermore, Jerry also shone during the grass season, having a competitive showing despite the loss against a rising Jacob Fearnley 5-7, 5-7 at the Nottingham (grass) Challenger quarterfinals, reaching the Eastbourne (250) quarterfinals as well, being eliminated to Taylor Fritz 6-7(5), 6-7(5) as it came down to some crucial points. He ended the grass season by going out of the Wimbledon Championships’ second round against Grigor Dimitrov 7-5, 7-6(4), 4-6, 2-6, 4-6, peaking during the other hard-court swing by reaching the semifinals of Atlanta (250) as a qualifier (l. Jordan Thompson 6-3, 4-6, 3-6) despite the two walk-overs that occurred back in Washington (500) (retiring 2-3 down in the first set to Arthur Rinderknech in the second round due to his lower back injury) and Winston-Salem (250) (withdrew from his third-round match) and the first-round loss to Casper Ruud in another 5-set chaos (final scoreline: 7-6(1), 6-3, 0-6, 3-6, 1-6), before winning his maiden ATP-level title in Chengdu (250) (d. Lorenzo Musetti 7-6(4), 6-1, notably defeating Kei Nishikori (R1), Roman Safiullin (R2), and Alexander Bublik (QF) midway). Jerry ended his season Indoors by qualifying for the Paris M1000, bowing out to Marcos Giron 6-7(6), 6-7(6) in another competitive showing. Reaching his career-high ranking of 47 back on October 21, 2024, Jerry is looking forward to competing in the NextGen Finals, trying to stay happy on the court while maintaining his continuous learning spirit.

5. Luca van Assche

Luca van Assche after winning against Cameron Norrie in his Roanne Challenger quarterfinal match (📸 TennisActu via Roanne Challenger's official Instagram)

Luca van Assche's point to 5-2* 30-30 (2nd set) in his second-round Heilbronn Challenger match (left) and to *1-2 0-15 in his Roanne Challenger quarterfinal match (right) (📸 ATP official website)

Compared to his steady rise that qualified him for the 2023 NextGen Finals, Luca van Assche struggled to maintain his form, trying to balance his tennis journey with his undergraduate studies, currently majoring in Mathematics at Paris-Dauphine University. He kicked off this season with a second-round exit to Cameron Norrie 3-6, 7-6(5), 1-6 before notably recording back-to-back 5-set wins in his first two rounds of the Australian Open, bowing out to Stefanos Tsitsipas 3-6, 0-6, 4-6 in the third round. Trying to find his form upon appointing Vicenzo Santopadre (Matteo Berrettini’s coach for 13 years), it was a rocky road for him for some parts of the year: suffering quit exits from the first rounds of Marseille (250) and Rotterdam (250), as well as the first qualifying round of Doha (250) before qualifying for Dubai (500), where Karen Khachanov got the best out of him 2-6, 3-6 in the first round. To continue, he reached the semifinal of the Phoenix Challenger (l. Nuno Borges 4-6, 6-4, 2-6), but another set of early exits occurred, reaching the second round at best in Miami M1000 (l. Casper Ruud 6-7(5), 6-1, 1-6), Barcelona (500) (retiring against Fabian Marozsan 0-6, 2-3), and Madrid M1000 (l. Sebastian Baez 4-6, 7-6(2), 3-6), topping it off with a loss to a comeback Denis Shapovalov 3-6, 4-6, 4-6 in Roland Garros, continuing with 3 consecutive three-set victories in the Heilbronn Challenger the week after before bowing out to eventual champion Sumit Nagal 2-6, 6-7(5) in the semifinals, continuing with a quarterfinal showing in Lyon (clay) Challenger (l. Raphael Collignon 5-7, 3-6) and second-round loss to Tristan Boyer (2-6, 5-7) in the Sassuolo Challenger.

L. van Assche was one of the Wimbledon lucky losers, after being eliminated in the third qualifying round against Lucas Pouille 6-7(4), 5-7, 2-6 in a French generational affair, but he was defeated by Fabio Fognini 1-6, 3-6, 5-7 in the first round despite stepping up late in the third set. Among the other quick eliminations occurring during the other hard-court season, he went out to Paul Jubb 3-6, 1-6 in the second round of the Lincoln Challenger, Gabriel Diallo 4-6, 3-6 in the Cary Challenger second round, Radu Albot 2-6, 6-0, 4-6 in the second qualifying round of the US Open, as well as to the eventual champion Gijs Brouwer 3-6, 2-6 in the first round of the Saint-Tropez Challenger. Seeing his Top 100 ranking is on the line, L. van Assche survived the season thanks to some tumultuous runs, starting from a second-round loss in Villena Challenger to another #NextGenATP in Justin Engel 6-3, 4-6, 0-6, followed by a semifinal showing in the Roanne Challenger (l. Benjamin Bonzi 4-6, 1-6 despite coming back from a set and a break down in the quarterfinals against Cameron Norrie 1-6, 7-5, 6-3, being a quarterfinalist of the Brest Challenger (l. Otto Virtanen 6-7(1), 4-6), had an epic loss after Jozef Kovalik came back and forth from the brink in the first round of the Bratislava 2 Challenger 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-7(0), then becoming a lucky loser in Metz (250) despite his first-qualifying-round loss to Gregoire Barrere 3-6, 4-6 as Cameron Norrie asserted his revenge in the first round 3-6, 6-3, 1-6. This resulted in the Frenchman being ranked 128 at the end of the season, but he is looking to end 2024 with a bang with a run in the NextGen Finals, taking the court first today against Juncheng Shang to start his campaign in this tournament as he drew from his last year’s experience, where he lost in the semifinals against Arthur Fils.

8. Nishesh Basavareddy

Nishesh Basavareddy with his maiden Challenger-level title in Tiburon (📸 ATP official website via Natalie Kim Photography)

Nishesh Basavareddy's points to 5-1* 30-40 (1st set) in his Tiburon Challenger final match (top left), to 0-0* 40-ad (2nd set) to set up one of his break points in his second-round Knoxville Challenger match (top right), and to *3-3 30-15 (bottom) in an exciting sequence at his Puerto Vallarta Challenger final match (bottom) (📸 ATP official website)

Notably a former junior World No. 3 (attained on January 3, 2023), Nishesh Basavareddy attends Stanford University, majoring in Data Science, where he also was awarded ITA Scholar-Athlete twice for his outstanding academic achievement before foregoing his remaining eligibility thanks to a standout season. Back in college, he was a two-time All-American and the ITA Fall National Champion in 2022, leading the Stanford Cardinals to a Pac-12 Championship earlier in 2024, as well as being an All-Pac two-time honoree, having a 41-11 record in singles (14-1 at the top position) and 29-14 doubles record, reaching a career-high collegiate ranking of No. 6 in singles. In addition, while still actively playing in college, apart from attaining his first ATP points in 2022, he also won his first professional doubles title in ITF M15 Vero Beach (Apr 25) with Ricardo Rodriguez-Pace, defeating Liam Draxl/Millen Hurrion 6-4, 6-3 in the finals and becoming the singles runner-up of the 2023 Fairfield Challenger (l. Zachary Svajda 4-6, 1-6) at his maiden Challenger-level singles final.

However, the Carmel, Indiana native started another rise, beginning with his ITF M25 Calabasas (Mar 18) runner-up when Trevor Svajda got the best out of him 4-6, 1-6. Since then, he had a tear in the North American Challenger circuit in general, starting from becoming the runner-up to Learner Tien 6-4, 3-6, 4-6 in the Bloomfield Hills Challenger (in singles) and partnering Ozan Baris, in doubles (l. Ryan Seggerman/Patrick Trhac 6-4, 3-6, [6-10] in the finals). He then reached the semifinal of the Lincoln Challenger (l. Coleman Wong 7-6(5), 6-7(3), 0-6) before reaching the third qualifying round of the US Open, where Hamad Medjedovic won 6-4, 6-7(5), 6-1, with fitness being the main question of this stretch, including in his Columbus Challenger loss to James Kent Trotter 7-6(4), 1-6, 0-6 in the semifinals. However, Nishesh came back stronger with other final stretches, starting with a runner-up to Edas Butvilas 4-6, 3-6 in the Charleston Challenger in a battle for their maiden Challenger title, finally winning his maiden Challenger title in Tiburon as he double-breadsticked (6-1, 6-1) University of Texas alumnus Eliot Spizzirri as they contested for their maiden Challenger title as well. Somehow, within 2 months, Nishesh became a runner-up in 2 different Challenger-level tournaments, starting the Charlottesville Challenger (l. James Kent Trotter 3-6, 4-6), followed by the Champaign Challenger a fortnight later (l. Ethan Quinn 3-6, 1-6) while surviving various classics along the way, including the quarterfinal match against University of Virginia alumnus Chris Rodesch 6-4, 6-7(6), 7-6(5) in the quarterfinals back in Charlottesville. Despite the injury scare to end the season, Nishesh closed the season in the Puerto Vallarta Challenger with a title, defeating Liam Draxl 6-3, 7-6(4) after not being able to serve it out in the second set, thus achieving a career-high ranking of 138 on December 2, 2024, securing the last spot to the NextGen Finals, as well as becoming the basis of him turning professional by the end of this year thanks to the immense development in his point construction as reflected in some above samples.

[princess-from-another-galaxy]

Using my tennis knowledge to let you know something funny about Phil's Tire Town Challenger

So, as you may or may not know, this is the competition Art loses against Du marier. The Atlanta Open (ironically the same open where a few years earlier Tashi and Patrick slept together. It's a 250, so it makes sense that Patrick would be able to qualify for them).

Although, the Du marier game could also be in this one, which is just a week or so after and is slightly harder to get in, since it's 500 (keep in mind the dates here are for the 2024 season and not the 2019 season)

Either way! This is the Cincinnati open that Tashi pulls Art out of. It's a masters which is the hardest one right before the grandslams. (the numbers are pretty self explanitory I feel). If you notice, there's a 250 right around the same time, which Tashi could have sign him up for (a much better and more sensible career move than a fucking challenger!!!)

But you're probably wondering, what does this have to do with Phil's Tire Town challenger?? As I am sure you guessed, no such Challenger exists. But do you know what challenger does exist?? And that happens around the same time as the movie?? This one!

The Atlantic Tire Championships!! Which may or may not be the inspo behind Phil's Tire Town Challenger.

[wimbledonstrawberry]

mom!!! pick me up, people in twitter dot come think tennis is a boring non-gay sport (the quotes are full of rafa proving them all wrong)

[pepprs]

reading is awesome 😎

[alfredol70]

Carlos Alcaraz vs Damir Dzumhur (full match) | F Barcelona 11-10-2020

[princess-from-another-galaxy]

I am absolutely obsessed with this scene because as a tennis fan, I can assure you that it is 100 times worse for Art to be there. Patrick is absolutely right about that.

The tennis fans of the Challengers universe would either: 1) lose respect for Art since they see him being there as him using lower ranked players to make himself feel better about losing; 2) get angry and just tell him to retire; 3) get angry at Tashi and call her a bunch of very angry and derogatory terms and say that the reason Art is losing is cause he needs a new coach.

This decision is baffling from a real-life tennis perspective. The actual number 1 ranked tennis player in the world right now hasn't won a single tournament in 5 months but if he joined a challenger, we would all be pissed, disappointed and just straight up baffled.

Tashi really made a huge gamble in putting Art there, and she straight up says that it was to humiliate him, but not regarding Patrick, and I can't help but wonder if that wasn't a lie. Because the humiliation of a challenger wouldn't just affect Art, it would affect her too. The only way that would pay off is if she knew Patrick would be there to give Art the push he needed (they needed).

Also, the part where Art is like "you don't matter even to the most obsessive tennis fan in the world", BULLSHIT!

Tennis fans do watch challengers, I have currently two fav challenger series players plus two others that I follow cause even tho I'm not obsessed, I still really like their playing style (and they're all around Patrick’s ranking)

There are tennis fans in the world that do know who Patrick is, and there are tennis fans in the world who are fans of him!!!

Art was straight up just talking out of his ass in order to hurt Patrick’s feelings, and honestly, I kind of love that for him. I love little snakey snake Art

“I know what you're trying to do right now.” “I'm not trying to do anything, Art. This is a challenger. I don't need to play mind games with you.” “Right. You don't give a shit.”

CHALLENGERS (2024) dir. Luca Guadagnino

[blurboki]

✩ ≫ GIVING STRAYKIDS HEAD WHILE HE’S LIVE

including. ot8 | pairing. skz x fem! reader | genre. smut - MINORS DNI | warnings. blowjob/handjob (m. rec), mentions of begging, mentions of a breeding kink, voyeurism, nicknames, mentions of using toys, humiliation, cum-eating, facial (f. rec), hair pulling, dubcon, felix cums inside, degradation, overstimulation, gagging, deep-throating, d/s dynamics

authors note. ty for requesting! i hope you don’t mind how wild i got with this.. seungmin’s made me feral (please tell me if i missed anything in the warnings!!)

CHAN :

would be so smiley n cute :((

until you kneel down and the realization hits

you can see his expressive eyes go “oh? oh.” in five second flat

the way you’re looking up at him? he’s twitching in his pants, trying his hardest to pay attention to chan’s room

definitely says something like: “alright! let’s get onto the next song, yeah?” while furiously turning up the volume to drown out his soft huffs of breath, plump lips parted to exhale deeply

the way he utterly shudders when you lick from his shaft all the way up to his leaking head has the dreamiest sigh falling from your mouth

the way you’re testing his patience makes him want to fuck you silly 🙈🙈

plays it off as if he was adjusting in his chair, meek smile giving away none of your naughtiness

once you start taking him into your mouth though, he reaches a hand to your hair, forcing you to down him

squeezes his eyes shut from the feeling of your throat swallowing him alongside the toe-curling whine you whimpered in response

most likely pretended to yawn to conceal his fucked-out face and the obscene sound of you gagging on him, babydoll eyes welling with tears

omg the way he looks down at you after that ?admiring your smudged mascara and the drool coating your lips and chin ?? pls eat me sir

“unfortunately, that’ll be the last song for this live, thank you Stay for joining me today..” he says, nonchalantly thumbing at your bottom lip to wipe the residue sitting there

legs spread and cock flushed against his abdomen, you come to realize rather quickly that you got yourself into something dangerous…

MINHO :

he’d prob be doing a live in the meeting room when you arrive, gazing at you pushing chairs out of the way to make him think you’re planning to sit down

till you settle between his legs and the realization dawns

has the most attractive, challenging stare ever watching you go to town

tbh minho is fucking terrifying with his self control in and outside of the bedroom

like he’d be able to answer questions and act completely normal despite his dick being halfway down your throat

pretends to laugh at a comment when instead he reached a hand under and toyed with your clit, gathering your wetness on two fingers to smear on the side of your lips

what he was laughing at? how pathetic you sounded mewling and dripping with need as if you weren’t the one who decided to give him head rn

would def end the live a tad bit early, finally succumbing to the handjob you provided where he came all over your face with the sluttiest moan

10/10 would bend you over and fuck you on the table after

10/10 would keep your legs out of business for a good five to six days (i stand by my claim)

CHANGBIN :

binnie is so fucking transparent idek if he could hide it

but like, he makes weird noises anyways so tbh stay probably wouldn’t bat an eye

sooo needy

gently grabs your chin while you kitty lick his mushroom tip and gives you most pleading stare

if he could’ve telepathically communicated, he would definitely been begging

funny considering how he basically bred you into the mattress the night before , right?

you resort to kissing his swollen cock, ensuring he’s watching when you collect his beading precum on a finger, bringing it up to your lips

to say he held back a moan doesn’t even cut it, poor baby might’ve bit his tongue off atp from your adorable eye contact and the mere image alone

gets frantic enough he blasts gods menu full volume and “suddenly” gets a text from Hyunjin saying he “needs to go”

a.k.a needs to blow

dude absolutely explodes

his moans are the cutest by far >>>

cums all over your face muttering soft “please please please” over and over while his fat cock basically ropes messy strings

he swore he’s never came harder in his life

andddd that’s how you got introduced to edging changbin!!!

jk, it just fueled your obsession with it further ;)

HYUNJIN :

prob the cutest of them all when you give him head under the table

he just feels so good and loved from your attention and the pleasure

has the dreamiest of smiles the entire time despite the music being obnoxiously loud to hide the sound

stays love this live bc of how cute he looked the entire time

lots conspired that he was drunk or smthn bc of how smiley he was, cheeks dusted pink

pretended to drop something so he could groan under the table, thigh twitching and abs tightening as he approached his orgasm

definitely grabs your head before he came, brows slightly knit and lips parted as he met your eyes

so fucking sweet after he cums, petting your head and running a light hand on your cheek where his cum smears

pops his thumb in your mouth, softly wiping your bottom lip of his essence

he’s literally delighted i cannot make this up

totally nonchalant apart from groaning under the table which he hid from view

expect either the softest or hardest sex afterwards

like you’re going to either be carried because your legs are out of commission or because he’s feeling romantic :((

HAN :

.. stay are prob getting an equally good treat too

and no they don’t know what was going on, they just know how from a certain timestamp in his most recent live his voice got a whole lot more attractive

expect a sudden raspy pitch, clicking his tongue casually as if his partner wasn’t spoiling him

on any other day he’d be stupidly whiny, crying from the pleasure you provided

today, however, he just let himself dissolve in the ecstasy, breathing in the fresh air on cloud 9

there were some speculations from stay watching, but it only got as far as that

scary enough, he doesn’t make a sound, casually carrying out conversation and answering questions like nothing

that is until you get impatient, pressing hot kisses all over and speeding up the movement of your hand as you fist him, pretty eyes fixating on his face

aha. you see him slightly wince, bidding farewell quickly with a few over-exaggerated poses and blown kisses

stifles a groan as he approached his high, tracing the corner of your lips as he grumbles an excessively attractive:

“now stick your tongue out, ‘don’t what you missing a drop.”

then proceeds to cum all over your lips n mouth, thumbing away some of his residue there

“you’re so messy, bunny, ‘have to teach you some manners, hm?”

FELIX :

he gets so cocky

and it’s one of the hottest things on the planet

watches you through half-lidded eyes as you unbutton his jeans, taking him into your mouth

i feel like no matter how hard you try to rile him up, it just makes him cockier and gives him a visible ego boost

like, not a ‘thinking with my dick only’ type of ego boost, more of a ‘why tf aren’t you reacting rn, please fuck me already at this point’ sort of ego boost

this man most likely turn off the music just to play it risky, forcing you down on his dick when you get too loud

reads comments as you literally deep throat him, eyes tearing up with how he keeps bumping the back of your throat

it’s insane

lifts a brow daringly as he reads a particular comment and you swear you would’ve moaned so fucking loud if it weren’t for him cruelly shoving fingers into your mouth as you fisted him with a hand

breathily sighs as you work faster, blinking a bit slower and hesitating with his answers—a telltale sign he’s close

definitely ends the live earlier, quickly taking off your bottoms to pull you onto his lap and paint your cunt white

voices the most guttural groan, adams apple bobbing as he fills you so full of him

he’s convinced there is absolutely nothing he loves more than stuffing your pussy, nothing

SEUNGMIN :

i will sit in the grave believing seungmin is one of the most god-teir men alive when it comes to head

another rbf (resting bitch face) king btw!!

meanest but also nicest ?? i can’t explain take this how you want

prob sings a song while you suck him off i cannot😭😭

you’d most likely be more affected than he is (or you just can’t tell), bc you’ll be a moaning mess from how nonchalantly he’s already shoved two fingers inside your cunt, guiding your head into a steady rhythm with a spare hand

smiles every time you mewl on his cock, hungrily watching your hips stutter while his fingers curl and rub your pussy sooo good

lmao i bet he hits a high note when you cream(and when he cums too), drowning out the desperate cries you sob from his lap

ends the live without even a trace of what happened, pulling your hair roughly so you meet his eyes, tears freely rolling down your cheeks

“you wanted this so don’t act like you didn’t. open.” he instructs, and you obediently open your mouth for him, showing him your tongue and lips painted with his cum

“swallow.”

his face when you swallow oml he loves seeing his baby behave

mumbles quiet “good girl”’s when you take his fingers coated in your juices into your mouth

honestly.. i could see him buzzing your puffy clit w a bullet vibrator afterwards while you sit on his dick, cooing as you fall apart on top of him, telling you it’s a “reward” while you’re overstimulated and sensitive beyond belief

JEONGIN :

kind of like hyunjin with his unpredictability, he’s either stone cold or an innocent baby

today, however, he was definitely needy, looking adorably confused when you sauntered through the doorway

gasps when you slip under the desk, eyes turning into round saucers as you carefully rid him of his pants then boxers

has to pause on multiple occasions to pull himself together, occasionally turning his head away from the camera to express the overwhelming feeling of your tongue

leaks a quiet, oh so quiet whine in the midst of laughing at a comment

poor bub gets an army of comments asking if he’s feeling sick from how flushed he is

cutie can’t admit how amazing you make him feel 🤭

ends the live abruptly, literally only thinking about cumming in your mouth

desperate AF when he starts mumbling, pulling you off of him to stick out your tongue as he frantically fists his dick, beads of pre-cum decorating the swollen tip

“oh god oh god oh god— cumming, ‘gonna cum, in your mouth? baby please please wanna cum in your mouth— yeah just like that, good girl- fuck-“ is just an example of his barely intelligible moaning

trust that he came hard, strings of apologies falling off his pink lips at the mess he made of your face

oml if you keep sucking him off afterwards?? overstimulated innie is the cutest thing ever

expect lots of begging and neediness 😍

blurboki, july 2023 ©

[thatdeadaquarius]

College be kicking my ass but we continue on like Scaramouche (alive and kicking, but still crabby about it all lmfao)

Random idea but what happens when the acolytes got hold of Creator that is able to squeeze into small places (like a cat would but less liquid) and knows how to escape? Think of sagau but instead of all the deaths, its just they got overexited and chased the Creator the moment they see them which scared them shitless seeing a mob just appear out of nowhere.

I mean who wouldn't after seeing your favourite person in your favourite game just appear right in front of you? (I apologize in advance to the poor unfortunate sucker)

Imagine a world-wide search that keeps getting them heart attacks. Venti just flying by with Dvalin ony to see you on top of the floating pillar above Dragonspine LEANING PRECARIOUSLY OH MY ARCHONS GET AWAY FROM THE EDGE---

Zhongli walking around trying to find peace and quiet only to sense your presence which led him towards Azhdaha's domain and nearly shouted in terror seeing you hanging by one of the limestones above the slumbering dragon your grace what and how the in the fucking name of teyvat did you---

Yae Miko screaming in surprise seeing you inside one of the cupboards of your grace's house (you made a small temporary one in each country in case u need more rest) that she and Ei found in one of the remote islands.

Nahida and the entire Forest Rangers having one of the most intense, frustrating and most challenging game of hide and seek in the entire freaking forest.

You hiding underneath the sand like a fricking snake everytime Cyno spots you from a disrance.

-Vine Boom 🧨

I am no longer apologizing for lateness simply bc atp its basically assumed Im terribly sorry 💀 /so gen

  

Content under -----------------✄

☆

Sun: Reader, (you/they/them)

Orbit: Headcanons-ish, Imposter SAGAU? Imposter SAGAU Reversed Ver? unclear (NOT DARK)

Stars: little here, little there

Comets & Meteors: Content Warnings: reader/you thinks everyone is hunting them down, dark sagau fake-baiting lmao, & Trigger Warnings: none known.

Please comment if I missed any. /gen

No but the traumatic experience of you cautiously wandering into Mondstadt after realizing ur in Genshin like, ✨👄✨

and every single street/alleyway you try to go down to even avoid it is just people all looking at you like: 👁️👄👁️ ???

and ur over here equally just like: 😃 tf u lookin at????

u get up near the cathedral and finally see a playable character, Barbara, and she just fully GASPS and POINTS at you like she’s getting paid to be an actor for this

shouting sm nonsense like: “My Creator??? King of All???? IS THAT YOU?????”

and after which a few nuns check the commotion, Rosaria and Barbara’s Visions are glowing, and all join in heckling you

Venti coming (literally) flying around a corner on a breeze, saying he was trying to catch up to you, and ohhh now ur Convinced:

None of these bitches must be happy to see you, you did forcefully control their bodies if by the sounds of it they knew you/they must’ve been aware during the game, aw damn looks like u gotta run for your life now

You just book it out of Mond, Venti/Barbara yelling after you to come back, and meanwhile you’re leaving a shell-shocked Jean/Diluc/Kaeya (with Visions glowing) in ur wake on the way out

Not one being, mortal or otherwise, convinces you to stay in Mond, and you finally get to Dragonspine- the only place u know they wont follow

(well maybe the pyro characters but ur betting if u can make it up the mountain theyre not committed to,, running you down? arresting you?? ur not sure)

u make it all the way up and luckily everythings all solved like u did in the game, the traveler must be well into teyvat by now, and u decide to say “for the already achieved achievement” and fuck around and find out near the nail

U thought as u finally got on it u heard a scream somewhere in the sky, and u spotted Dvalin carrying Venti/Barbatos, and once again book it out of town (damn u cant believe theyre so committed they got the dragon in on it…)

so u haul ass all the way down the mountain, traveling only at night, living like a vampire, holing up during the day when u see Mond citizens/knights/gods/etc. walking around presumably looking for you

but u make it, finally! sweet, sweet Liyue, ur 2nd home (besides Mondstadt)

Only to immediately, like right outside the fucking gates to Liyue Harbor, run into Zhongli.

and he’s standing there like this mf knew u were coming, and the first thing out his mouth is some BS like, “…Darnell, that you??”/ref LMAOO

but instead of laughing abt it u just scream and run for your life haha

oh jesus h christ- he’s sending the adepti after you fuck- how hated are you??

sure u maybe hate Celestia a little, and sympathize with the traveler, but this seems a little extreme?!

you go to the one place u know he/any other adeptus doesnt like to come often, Azdaha’s cave

and after a night (well, day bc ur sleeping during the day now) of Azdaha sleeping peacefully, he wakes up fully coherent and u actaully have a rlly pleasant conversation with him about Liyue food lol

he also kept mentioning some kind of god? but like in reference to you?? are u connected to them, u kinda know a lot of gods atp so ur not sure which he means, a god to rule them all??? Celestia?? yeah u guess u know those fucks-

Cue u looking down from ur perch in the stalagmites above, u found a ledge and Azdaha helped you,

only to see a very concerned and borderline nervous Zhongli down below, Azhdaha just greets him like nothing’s wrong, but as soon as he sees you’re uncomfortable, helps you escape (more like teleport) away

(the old geo archon was probably nervous just be around Azhdaha u assume)

and now ur on the islands of Inazuma

u know exactly what islands are all but abandoned, the ghost one, the electrocuting one, and the scary bird one, all great options 👍

Raiden and Yae Miko manage to find you on every single one, with Yae getting more and more exasperated, and Ei getting more and more concerened with every position they find you in

hanging out on the banks of the electro river that would kill you if it weren’t for the little electro trees fending it off (thank fuck u maxed that shit out while in game)

bc u assumed they’d hate to be around it, plus lots of ronin- nope Ei is almost… scolding you?? oh but she’s got her Musou no Hitotachi out fuCK-

(she was slaying ronins that were getting too close to you)

she also is constantly jumpscaring you on tsurumi island/ghost island bc while the ghosts are gone, the creepy atmosphere isn't, and it makes her all the more terrifying as The Raiden Shogun comes walking out of the fog into the cave you've hidden in, stuff of ur nightmares for weeks as u just bird box style try to be silent and stealth around the island to get to an abandoned boat,

literally her scary ass purple sword glowing silhouette wandering around in the fog as you paddle away 💀

getting to thunder bird island and Yae Miko is literally both running/teleporting as quickly as she can to you, as you jump from floating rock to floating rock to escape her, god its so unnerving to watch someone so lazy running after you

she keeps getting in this weird “praising the heavens pose” sometimes when you jump, oh shit she’s aiming hER ATTACKS AT YOU THATS WHY-

oh good- she missed and deflected some stray debris coming ur way, u gotta get to the bird area and see if you can glide away (u managed to get a glider at some point thank fuck)

the bird is luckily on ur side against all these mfs trying to hunt u down (for controlling their bodies u guess) and flies u back to mainland teyvat

sumeru u thought would have the most mercy on u tbh, maybe fontaine bc Neuvillette only rlly cares if u break “fontaine” laws, maybe he wouldn't care to chase down a mortal like u over this

and nahida bc shes just nice

which is somewhat true, as you are acting like tarzan swinging around on vines and shit to escape the forest rangers

but she does show up in ur dreams, but shes just all foggy or distorted, u guess bc ur not of this world or smth??

and so it just unnerves u more, and u try to make it out to the desert, where at least there's no gods to worry about

mf ur hunkered down in a pyramid and see the shadowy shape of Cyno walking thru a sandstorm at you 💀

U dont kno how u got out of that one tbh, smth abt “king deshret made a plan for this” and left it behind for ppl to use to escape underground, sweet

And while Nahida and other eremites, scholars like Alhaitham/Kaveh/Dehya were looking around the desert sands, u slip by them

And u make it to the oasis at the edge of the desert, and steal an old rowboat to cross to fontaine (if i had a nickel everytime u needed to escape a god via old rowboat, youd have 2 nickels- )

and getting to Fontaine is not much better.

U literally get to the clockwork tower, foggy, ominous, uninhabited except for treasure-seekers occasionally, its perfect

until Neuvillette himself just strolls in abt 3 nights of u making camp there

u nearly shit urself as he just fake-knocked on a wall, meanwhile ur like hanging from the ceiling (four limbs out suspending you type of fictional shit)

luckily, mostly bc u were trying to wait him out (which wasn't possible ur limbs hurt so bad) he was, finally, the first person around u long enough to be genuinely kind and patient and answer questions

(Neuvillette acc couldn't figure out where u were at first, and was very confused how u got ur voice to boom around this chamber of the tower, after a minute of talking u trusted him enough to tell him to look up lol)

just in time too, he was able to hide u from the archons a little longer bc u were nervous

(u were already intimidated enough by Neuvillette being irl himself, talking to you, let alone all the other gods/vision users, as u realized afterwards thinking abt all the ppl trying to “hunt u down”, that if they all counted as ppl actually wanting to see you, that was a rlly overwhelming amount, esp if their first instinct is to run at you??? what are you, a fan-abused/disrespected kpop idol????)

☆

trying to be fancy and schedule posts once i get enough free time to actually wrangle my adhd to actually partake in my favorite hobbies 💀

well as long as I'm not getting slammed with lots of shifts again

hope u guys had a great weekend and have a good week! Happy late Valentine’s Day :)

Safe Travels Vine Boom,

💀♒

If you wanna join a taglist, DM me what for! "Pspspsss, please tag me for [All SAGAU posts, Only SAGAU Language AUs, diff fandom, etc.]!"

(If you ever wanna drop, just DM me! "No more taglists/[specifically this AU/fandom] please!")

♡the Beloveds♡

@karmawonders / @0rah-s / @randomnatics / @glxssynarvi / @nexylaza / @genshin-impacts-me / @wholesomey-artist / @thedevioussmirk / @the-dumber-scaramouche / @chocogi / @fallen-starr / @areaderofbooks / @devilangel657 / @esthelily / @justinsomniachild / @nanithefuck / @questionotmystopit

@kiyomi-uchiha777

[cashmoneyyysstuff]

So, that deja vu fic got me thinking.. and what if katsuki has a childhood friend (obvi friends w deku too) where he is always trying to impress her and class 1-a notices or ( if you’d like them older ) the agency notices and starts betting on when he’ll confess to her. turns out, she actually confesses first and everyone is happy (and slightly disappointed… nobody got their money) 😋😋

Also, when i saw the notification “@cashmoneyyysstuff started following you” i have never hit a follow back button so fast 😭🫶

Remember you’re amazing, take care of yourself, drink water, stay safe, and know that you are loved ❤️

bet on it, bet on it !!

there's definitely something going on between you two, and your classmates are determined to figure out when it'll finally happen

a/n: WAAAA @itzjustj-1000 this is soo cute ! especially since katsuki being a loser n tryin to impress us instead of just confessing is honestly adorable. ALSO ALSO ur LITERALLY THE SWEETEST !! ur the loveliest it's a given i had to follow u !! i tried to honour ur request as best i could, i hope you like it ! also say it w me yall: WEEWOOO WEEWOOO CHILDHOODFRIENDS TO LOVERS ALEEEEEERRTTT(yall r forcing my hand atp (not that im complaining tho))

fem reader, katsuki is a whipped little loser, katsuki likes getting praised by reader but acts like he doesn't challenge (fails miserably), kaminari n sero are little shits, m*neta (he doesn't say anything creepy don't worry <3) everyone is in their 2nd year in this one. lemme know if i missed something else !

for as long as izuku midoriya could remember, you and kacchan have always been a packaged deal.

deku remembers all the way back in primary school, how kacchan would bend over backwards to impress you, spending his days trying to win your praise like he was collecting it. whether it be showing off how good his reading skills were, or showing off his newly acquired quirk to you at any given chance. (away from the eyes of the teachers, of course)

or even with silly things. like the time he showed you how long he could hold his breath underwater. it didn't matter, as long as he could show it off to you, he would.

deku remembers how pride would fill his childhood friends face, cheeks practically glowing and a smile basically reaching his ears. a simple "woooah, you're so cool kacchan !" had the boastful blonde giddy for the entire day, chest puffed out as he walked ahead of everyone, with you right next to him, of course. (you were the only one worthy enough to stand by his side after all)

and though he spent his time trying to win your praise, he also needed your attention constantly. katsuki constantly demanded your attention. he's the only one who's allowed to sit next to you in class, you're always the one he picks first when it's time to pick teams to play dodgeball. he's your partner for every project and you're the one who walks beside him when you and your friends go venture out in the woods to go out on your adventures. and even though they would usually take place in the park, katsuki always claimed he'd be the one to protect you if anything were to happen.

as kids, deku was probably the only one who noticed how hard katsuki tried to impress you.

and he's probably the only one to notice how he still does it now.

"sooo...kacchan totally has a thing for yn, agreed ?"

"mhm. definitely."

"yup."

"'m suprised you just noticed that now, kaminari...actually i'm not really suprised." jirou drawled, twirling one of her earphone jacks around her finger.

okay, so apparently he isn't the only one who noticed.

kaminari pouts "i noticed ! i noticed, like, ages ago !" he huffs into his folded elbows on the desk " i just wanted to see if you guys did !"

"you'd be stupid to miss it." sero cuts in smoothly. their grouchy homeroom teacher somehow ended up absent, leading to an impromptu free period. which in turn caused for loads of gossip he had somehow gotten roped into. kirishima, kaminari and sero were talking about you and katsuki, happily chatting off about something they couldn't hear from where they were sitting.

"maaaannn, bakugou's way too lucky, scoring such a pretty girl. what's he got that i don't ?!" kaminari whines. kirishima shushes him lightly, afraid to rouse the attention of a certain blonde they just so happened to be talking about

"now that i think about it.." sero wondered, leaning onto kirishima's shoulder "midoriya, you guys are childhood friends, right ? have they always been..." he cuts himself off, pointing over at you both with his chin for midoriya to look back. ".. like that ?"

you're chatting about something that's apparently funny or exciting, with katsuki listening along attentively, his head resting in his palm like he's admiring you. his full focus entirely on you, as it usually was.

you're using your hands a lot while you're talking and deku recognizes it as the thing you do when you've gotten to the juicy part of the conversation, deku almost wishes he could listen in, then remembers it's not good to be nosy and shakes the thought away. every once in a while katsuki interjects with a subtle smirk on his face and his remarks have you either giggling or playfully pouting at him unable to hide your smile. the playfulness in his heavy lidded red eyes remains at any reaction you give him, though. kacchan's worked on his poker face over the years but it seems he can't control himself when it comes to you.

izuku realizes he's been openly staring for too long and quickly turns back to look at sero who raises an eyebrow, awaiting a response.

izuku chuckles to himself "yeah, pretty much." he hums, playing around with the ends of his tie as he speaks.

"oooouu~" kaminari sings, suddenly lifting his head up from where it was hidden into his shoulder with a sudden burst of energy, startling kirishima. "juicy details about kacchan, i'm in !"

"i don't know if it's exactly 'juicy'" izuku sweatdropped, chuckling awkwardly. "but kacchan and yn have always been really close. when we were younger, kacchan would always be seeking out yn's attention. he'd be really possesive..or protective over her, i guess ?—it was all pretty harmless though." he recounted, smiling softly at his childhood memories nostalgically pouring into his mind.

both kirishima and sero let out quiet hums when he finishes while denki simply pouts "s'not as juicy as i thought it would be" he huffs petulantly, receiving a knock on his head from jirou who hisses a "he told you that, idiot"

kirishima places his head into the palm of his hands and sighs dreamingly "man, that's so cute. bakugou's been a major softie for yn for so long.." he clenches his fist and izuku thinks he sees a little tear in his eye "so manly !" he exclaims through his sharp teeth.

"yeah, i don't know if 'manly' is the word i'd use to describe someone who's been whipped for so long and still doesn't have the balls to confess" sero ribbed, snickering to himself with denki joining in shortly after.

"hey, don't be assholes !" jirou shot "i think it's kinda cute y'know ? not really..manly..but—cute." she said.

"how much you wanna bet he's not gonna confess until graduation?" kaminari challenged.

"wouldn't put it past 'im." a voice suddenly chimes in. the five of them all turn their heads left, right then down at the voice that came from none other than mineta, who had somehow wormed his way into the conversation.

"and what the hell do you think you're doing sneaking into our conversation, freak" jirou sneers, glaring down at mineta who had already dragged his chair over, including himself into the group.

mineta decides to ignore jirou as he places his arms onto the desk seriously like he's imitating some type of mafia don. " bakugou's never gonna confess any time soon, he's too much of a pussy" he waves off nonchalantly "i bet he won't even have done it by the time we've finished school ! "

" and i bet you wouldn't say that to his face !" kaminari guffaws and the purple haired boy sputters. izuku can't hold back his grin as he watches them bicker.

" kacchan's always been pretty..sure of himself" he settles "i don't think it'd take him that long to confess" he guessed, pressing his thumb onto his chin "though maybe the fact that he's so sure of himself could hold him back.."

ah, there he goes again.. the rest of them thought as they watch midoriya babble on and on into theory land.

denki suddenly slams his fists on the desks, startling everyone. he sucks in a breath "alright ! i bet a thousand yen and the entirety of my lunch box that bakugou won't confess by the end of this year !" he exclaims, not too loud but loud enough so everyone in the group could hear him.

"oooouu~ what're we betting on ?" mina chimes in, suddenly appearing behing jirou and in turn startling her. she flashes her a little glare causing the pink haired girl to offer a weak apology and a hug.

"kaminari just bet a thousand yen and his lunch that bakugou won't confess to yn by the end of this year" sero smirked, clearly enjoying the drama

" ou, that sounds fun ! lemme join in too !" the pink skinned girl pleaded giving her best puppy eye and pout combo.

"sure ! just don't come cryin' to me when you lose" kaminari agrees, playfully jabbing at his friend.

"this is so stupid. i'm not betting money on this.."jirou scoffs rubbing at her temple. "c'moooonnn, don't be chicken, jirou ! " denki whines

"mhmm, c'moonn jirou give into peer pressure !" mina joins in, wrapping her arms around the purple haired girl and swaying her side to side.

jirou groans before finally conceding "..five hundred yen. that's all you're getting from me." she concludes sourly crossing her arms.

" i'm gonna go with kaminari's and say his balls won't drop 'till graduation" sero says simply, smirking almost mischieviously at the display of sudden chaos. he looks a little too pleased, izuku sweatdrops.

"i'm not betting on my bro, that's so unmanly." kirishima refused " i say just let them go at their own pace" he finishes, receiving a nasty look from his chaotic classmates.

needless to say kirishima gave in to peer pressure soon after, offering a modest 1,100 yen by this summer for his friend to confess.

"well i stand on what i said, i don't think he has the balls to say it at all. and i put that on all the money in my pockets ! " mineta proudly spoke.

"how much is that, like, one fruit roll-up ?" mina deadpanned, not missing a beat causing the group to erupt in laughter. mineta's objection's falling on deaf ears.

meanwhile, katsuki notices you've stopped talking all of a sudden. it takes him by surprise as you were so into it a minute ago. "what's up ?" he asks. his question snaps you out of your trance and you jump slightly, turning back to look at him "oh , nothing ! they just seem to be having fun " you gasp, a smile crawling up on your face as you look back at your friends having a good time.

katsuki on the other hand has a slight pout forming on his face, displeased at how his loud mouthed friends distracted you from your conversation. and from him he thinks, but that makes him feel like a snot nosed little kid again and his expression turns even more sour.

"tch. the fuck are those losers so loud for" he grumbles under his breath. you catch it though, and you giggle. his eyes brighten and his brows unfurrow the slightest bit when he hears it.

"don't be such a buzzkill katsu, s'not their fault you're no fun." you jest, chuckling to yourself when he scowls at you.

"fuck off ! m'not a buzzkill" he rolls his eyes, huffing indignantly "an' i'm plenty of fun" he finishes grumpily. you laugh a little more, covering your mouth with your hand when you catch a peak of him narrowing his eyes at you making fun of him. he simply rolls his eyes and sighs, shaking his head. he'll let it slide, he always does with you.

"right, right. my apologies, sir dynamight" you chuckle, bowing slightly at him, he huffs out a laugh "that's sir lord explosion murder god dynamight to you" he snorts. you throw your head back and laugh and katsuki feels the same pride he used to feel when he'd found something cool to show you back when you were brats. his stomach feels fuzzy and his head feels clouded the way it used to when you'd offer him your big, bright sparkly eyes and a "you're so cool kacchan !""

god, it never failed to remind him how much of a whipped loser he was for you.

and unfortunately still is.

you scoot your chair a little closer to his and katsuki has to use all of his might not to blush at the sudden proximity, as miniscule as the distance between you both was to begin with.

"well okay then, sir lord explosion murder god dynamight" you say rapidly, laughing to yourself. katsuki let's out a breathy chuckle, it's cute. he's cute. " i'm sure it doesn't mean much, but i at least think you’re plenty fun to be around"

katsuki feels his heart skip a beat too many.

you whisper, like it's a secret. you're in your own little corner while all your classmates are chatting away yet you say this to him like it's something between you and him. batting your eyelashes up at him. god, it's like you're out to kill him and honestly katsuki thinks for a second he wouldn't mind dying by your hand.

he's such a whipped loser.

he can't think straight. you're sitting so close to him, you're lips are glossy from that lip gloss you always have on you. you smell nice, katsuki feels like a creep for smelling you like you aren't a breath away from him.

"yeah, well.." he utters lowly. he licks his lips, feeling himself grow dizzy as he watches you watch the movement intensely and swallows. his adam's apple bobs and he can feel himself blushing like an idiot. " i don't think you're all that bad either" the end of his sentence comes out a little breathy, he barely realizes he's speaking. like his body is deciding for him, he doesn't mind much.

you give him a sweet little smile and your eyes shine like stars and you look up at him like he's everything, like he's the coolest. he wants you to look at him like this all the time.

you suddenly lean in and kiss him, right next to his lips, just at the corner. it lasts for about 0.3 seconds but katsuki feel his entire body exploding from the inside like he's let off his quirk onto himself.

"i take it back actually" you start " you're super cool to be around,kacchan " you whisper bashfully. katsuki huffs out a little laugh once his heart had stabilized itself a little bit, a small smile growing on his face—

" AW MAN? WHAT THE HELL ?!"

you both turn to the sound of your electric classmate, sporting a little pout on his face. proceeding to get dog-piled on by your other classmates surrounding him, causing him to let out whines and moans of complaint.

"i-ignore him !" mina waves off nervously "just keep doin' what you were doin !— i mean, we weren't watching or anything !" she splutters.

"nice one." jirou deadpanned sarcastically, rolling her eyes. "look, we don't mean to pry or anything, but who kissed who first ?"

at that, katsuki's cheeks flare up, turning a damn near violent shade of pink. he's about to yell obscenties at his classmates, about to tell them it's none of their business when-

" i did !" you giggle, a cat-like grin on your face

"you sneaky fuckin minx-" katsuki growls, shoving his index fingers into your sides and you let out a squeal mixed with a giggle. you're quickly drowned out by your classmates releasing a group groan, with sero and kaminari yelling and booing at katsuki, who in turn starts threathing them, his hands crackling and popping.

you don't exactly know what's happening, but you can't help but feel extremely joyful and happy.

"soo.." mineta starts "since i said bakugou wouldn't confess first doesn't that technically mean i-"

" IN YOUR DREAMS ! "

[alohajun]

hey so. idk if asks are still open but. you can’t end racer mingyu like that i need more please 🤗

♡ LUCKY CHARM: THE WINNING FORMULA — KIM MINGYU

f1 racer!mingyu x race engineer!fem!reader | wc : 0.8k words | content : possible grammar and spelling mistakes, lowercase intended, f1 au, coworkers to lovers, fluff, swearing, mentions of skinship | loki's lines : y’all just enabling my f1xkpop addiction atp, now i have smth to do during the off-season until f1 starts again

“go on a date with me, lucky charm.”

your eyes widened at his confession, not having expected those exact words to leave his lips — let alone hear him say them so publicly for everyone to hear.

the pit crew exchanged knowing glances, having known it was only going to be a matter of time until mingyu had finally realized his feelings for you and asked you out.

because even they knew that there was no way he’d be so smitten with you just because of some superstitious helmet knock.

“gyu, are you being for real right now?” you uttered, still processing everything in shock. “you just got pole on one of the toughest tracks and you want to—”

“there’s no better time than the present.” mingyu cut you off, his cheesy grin widening when he saw the flabbergasted look on your face. “so, what say, lucky charm?”

the ferrari paddock burst into laughter at his optimism, knowing exactly how stubborn mingyu could get when he made a decision. they also knew how he never gave up and always got what he wanted.

“kim mingyu.” you exasperatedly sighed, shaking your head in disbelief as you pulled yourself away from his embrace. “just focus on your race tomorrow. we’ll talk after that.”

mingyu opened his mouth to argue but only grinned as he heard the rest of your words. “that’s not a no. i’ll take it as a win.” he chuckled victoriously to himself.

“how about you get us an actual win while you are at it?” you quipped teasingly, the rest of the garage laughing at the playful banter you two had.

oh, and kim mingyu definitely took those words of yours as a challenge.

as soon as the race started, mingyu took off with the perfect start, defending his position from wonwoo as they drove side by side on the first corner.

you stood by the pit wall, practically glaring holes onto the monitors as you analyzed the data coming in from mingyu’s car. “good start, gyu. let’s go on offense once you get the tires warmed up.” you spoke over the radio, keeping calm.

your heart was practically at your throat as the race neared its end. come on, gyu. don’t fuck up. you got this. you didn’t even dare to blink as you focused on mingyu’s car on the screen.

“oi, don’t worry.” mingyu’s deep voice came through the radio, almost as if he were sensing your nerves. “i got this, lucky charm. and after this, i will cash in on that date; thank you very much.”

you couldn’t help but chuckle at his confidence, rolling your eyes playfully. “yeah, whatever you say, gyu. get that win first.” you quipped teasingly.

and getting the win he did.

the garage erupted into celebrations as soon as mingyu’s car made it past the checkered flag. you let out a sigh of relief as you fell back in your seat, a soft smile on your face as you shook your head to yourself.

it wasn’t long before you saw mingyu making his way towards you, completely covered in sweat and champagne from his podium celebration. you held up a hand, stopping him from approaching you, wincing slightly as you took him in.

mingyu, however, remained unfazed. “so? that date, lucky charm?” he asked, tilting his head as an amused smirk made its way to his face.

“you are really serious about this, aren’t you?” you asked, biting back a smile as you observed the way he looked. goodness, had he always been this good-looking?

mingyu only scoffed in disbelief, as if the answer to your question was a no-brainer. “with you? i’m always serious.” he slowly took a step closer.

your cheeks flushed as you averted your gaze momentarily. “yeah, we can go on that date.” you mumbled, clearing your throat as you shook your head in mock defeat.

a surprised squeal left your lips when you felt mingyu pull you into a spontaneous hug, shuddering slightly as you made contact with his champagne-soaked race suit — which only made him hug you tighter.

your breath hitched as you looked up at him, the garage’s laughter and applause fading into silence as you looked into his eyes.

it was just like the movies, with everything fading into the background as you two just stared at each other.

“i’m not just messing around, yeah?” he spoke up, his voice low and serious, just audible enough for you to hear. “i hope you know that, y/n.”

you nodded slowly, understanding how genuine he was being. “i … i know, gyu.” you reassured him just as quietly.

mingyu’s eyes crinkled as he smiled softly, feeling as if an immense burden had been lifted off his shoulders.

“you are a damn good lucky charm, you know? i won a race, and now i won you over too.”

taglist : @kflixnet @mirxzii @woooooooosh8 @i05wook @gyuguys (to be added, please send an ask or dm!)

MASTERLISTS | TAGLIST FORM

© 2025 ALOHAJUN | PLEASE REFRAIN FROM COPYING OR REPOSTING MY WORK WITHIN OR OUTSIDE THIS SITE

[devotion-disorder]

i have nothing to post but im itching to yap so here are random bits and pieces of DoL things™ and me yapping about them. ⚠️spoiler warning for kylar's manor and dog pound storylines⚠️ and also this is a longass post

so after 9000 years I finally got around to seeing the kylar's manor storyline because i heard there was real freaky cult shit going on (and also rare bailey content). I grinded the whitney alleyway encounters for so long (all of the events are apparently ordered so its not even rng) only to discover that I accepted the owl plushie so IT WASNT GOING TO WORK ANYWAYS

so i had to speedrun de-traumatizing robin then romancing them, which thankfully didnt take very long (sowwy wobin im usually too locked in on making money LMAO)

i think its just really funny that one of pc's method of escape is just. sending bailey an email. like can u fuckign imagine bailey getting an email thats like

Subject: EHLP Sender: [kylar's cringe email handle]

AUHXJKAUS HEEOLP BAILY IMSTUCK> IN SOME HAUNTED HOUOSE ON DABUBVE STREET I MADE MY KIDNAPPEDR MOW THE GRASS AND DANCE 4 ME BUT HES SO BAD HEELPPPP

and then he actually proceeded to believe the email and went to save pc im cryin.

i cannot believe he SNATCHED kylar mid-air LMAO????????

also,

WHAT THE FREAK JORDAN.........I WAS UNFAMILIAR WITH YOUR GAME.............................

i thought bailey would at least escort pc back home but he didnt(😔) but my pcs has already racked up so much stress i passed out immediately...which triggered the kylar's abduction event (💀💀💀💀) GOOD JOB BOZO

I also did the dog pound questline because im scavenging for any and all bits of bailey scenes, but atp my pc has S Skullduggery so i got in and got out of there in like. less than half a day

mainly i just wanna share this........oughhh what does it mean.............

speaking of bailey i also learnt that annoying him in his office is a great way to grind sadism so my pc has been waking up at 7am sharp every day to be a menace :)

I've been trying to unlock Mason's pond but I wasted most of the non-school days doing gacha for whitney alleyway events (see above) and ive never wanted there to be more rain than now

which also. I finally got one of whitney's favourite food recipes but IT JUST WONT RAIN SO I CANT GIVE IT TO HIM RAUGHHHHHH

I was going for both 'stressful challenge' feats so this has sadly been a very harperless run. though now that i think about it it's kind of a miracle i managed this despite the stimulant kidnapping questline.

i find that in late game when you inevitably accumulate more negative fame it gets kinda hard to get the 'stretcher to the hospital' outcome because noncon encounters will almost always "intercept" in a sense. i went 250 ish days without even seeing harper get mentioned lol

how did they make this flavor text even hotter.

[stateofsport211]

NextGen Finals 2023: Challenger Frequents Making their Mark

An Introductory Post to the NextGen Finalists 2023

The NextGen ATP Finals 2023 logo (📸 ATP Tour)

The field for this year’s NextGen Finals, which will be held in Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) during the last weeks of November, has been set. Interestingly, just like parts of the field last year, all contenders made their mark in the ATP Challenger Tour throughout the year, which became part of the tennis Tour that showcased their potential even deeper.

This post will celebrate the next generation of tennis, serving as a recap of their season and what to expect before the Bootcamp, where everyone will get to know them better in a series of off-court challenges in one of the innovations of this year’s NextGen Finals. Furthermore, with an emphasis on the Challenger Tour, this would hopefully bring more exposure to the Challenger Tour, which became the intermediary between the rising players, those trying to rediscover their form, and those still trying to break even.

For this year, the NextGen Finals qualifying window was open until November 20, 2023, the day after the finals in 5 Challenger events this year were held. Eventually, it all came down to that week due to a possibly tight race between several players concurrently playing in several tournaments, especially Kobe and Montevideo. It took a while for the ATP to eventually finalize the finalists, and they officially announced the last 3 qualifiers earlier this Monday (November 20) despite the field looking set by the end of the second round of Kobe. They will be drawn into two groups on November 25, 2023, playing in the best-of-five mini-sets (first to 4 games).

Hereby introducing the NextGen Finalists:

1. Arthur Fils

Arthur Fils during the Montpellier (250) (📸 Next Gen ATP Finals via JB Autissier)

Arthur Fils' points to break 2-1 in the second set of the Oeiras 2 Challenger final against Joris de Loore (left), and to take the second set 7-5 in the Aix-en-Provence Challenger first round against Gregoire Barrere (right) (📸 ATP Challenger Livestream)

Starting this year one line below the Top 250, Fils’ meteoric rise commenced in Oeiras 2 Challenger, the start of his season, where he won the title against the previous week’s winner, Joris de Loore, 6-1, 7-6(4) through his predominantly working first serves and notably fiery passes, which often carried him until today. He continued the streak by being the Quimper Challenger runner-up to Gregoire Barrere 1-6, 4-6, which earned him the wild card to the Montpellier (250), where he became an eventual semifinalist to Jannik Sinner, as well as being a semifinalist of Marseille (250) to Benjamin Bonzi.

Since then, his potential flourished despite the rollercoaster clay season, with winning Lyon (250) as the pinnacle of his season (d. Francisco Cerundolo 6-3, 7-5), followed by a semifinal appearance in Hamburg (500) several weeks later, closing the season with a runner-up finish in Antwerp (250, l. Alexander Bublik). As a reward for his remarkable season, not only did he become the first qualifier for the NextGen Finals, but he also achieved a career-high ranking of 36 by the end of October.

2. Luca van Assche

Luca van Assche's reaction upon winning the longest Challenger final of the year in Pau Challenger (📸 Tennis.com)

Luca van Assche's point to create his match point to 5-3* 40-ad in the second set of the Sanremo Challenger final against Juan Pablo Varillas (left), and to 4-3* 15-0 in the second set of the Aix-en-Provence Challenger against Andy Murray (right) (📸 ATP Challenger Livestream)

After breaking through the Top 150 by the end of 2022, van Assche had a relatively slow start to the year until he became the runner-up of the Pau Challenger at the beginning of March, where he got defeated by a resurgent Ugo Humbert in a high-quality match that lasted almost 4 hours 7-6(5), 4-6, 7-6(6) in the finals. The form did not stop until he cracked the Top 100 for the first time upon advancing to the semifinals of the Sanremo Challenger but further confirmed it once he straightforwardly defeated Juan Pablo Varillas 6-1, 6-3 for the title.

After a different set of rollercoasters in the clay season, including a notable defeat to Andy Murray in the Aix-en-Provence Challenger, van Assche continued his season beyond Challengers, as he made it to the second round of Eastbourne (250) as a qualifier, got eliminated against J.J. Wolf 2-6, 7-6(5), 1-6. During the indoor season, he made more noise again in the Orleans Challenger, where he lost against the eventual runner-up Jack Draper 5-7, 3-6 in the semifinals. He then sealed his season with a quarterfinal loss against a comeback Pierre-Hugues Herbert 6-4, 3-6, 5-7, ranking 66th by the time of this writing right before the NextGen Finals.

3. Dominic Stricker

Dominic Stricker celebrated as he stunned Stefanos Tsitsipas in the US Open second round (📸 DAZN Germany via Getty Images)

Dominic Stricker's point to create one of his break points to 4-3* 40-ad in the second set of the finals of the first Prague Challenger against Sebastian Ofner (left, 📸 ATP Challenger Livestream) and also create one of his break points to *0-1 40-ad in the second set of the US Open third qualifying round against Thiago Agustin Tirante (right, 📸 Eurosport)

Despite his great potential being discovered last year (thus his NextGen Finals debut then), Stricker had to overcome several injuries and moments before he got to where he is today. Started the year straight to the Australian Open qualifying rounds, where he lost to Enzo Couacaud 7-6(2), 7-6(7) in one of the earliest Top 100 matches (when he was 18-19 lines away), he went on to win his second career Challenger title in Rovereto back in February (d. Giulio Zeppieri 7-6(8), 6-2), having won won his maiden Challenger title in Bergamo last year, followed by a home semifinal run in Lugano (l. Otto Virtanen). He then added Prague 1 Challenger to the list of the Challenger titles he won this year (d. Sebastian Ofner 7-6(7), 6-3), subsequently becoming a lucky loser in Roland Garros upon his third qualifying round loss against Thiago Agustin Tirante, which further asked the question on his ability to qualify for the Grand Slams due to the pressure moments he succumbed to during.

However, Stricker started steadily announcing himself on the bigger stage starting the grass season, steadily striking the ball more effectively and visibly improving during the pressure points/moments. Appeared competitive in the quarterfinals match of the Ilkley Challenger against Andy Murray despite the 6-7(5), 5-7 loss, and found himself qualified for Wimbledon after enduring a 4-set match against Mattia Bellucci in the third qualifying round. He then qualified for the US Open despite the subpar mini-clay season and build-up and asserted his revenge against Tirante (to whom he lost the final qualifying round in Roland Garros), successfully advancing to the fourth round in a competitive loss against Taylor Fritz after winning his third-round match against Benjamin Bonzi. Eventually, despite the end-of-season rollercoaster, his quarterfinal run in Basel (500) (l. Ugo Humbert) confirmed his Top 100 finish attained back in the US Open but unfortunately had to retire (for likely precautionary measures) in Ismaning Challenger at 7-6(2), 1-4 against Rudolf Molleker in hopes to be ready for his second NextGen Finals appearance.

4. Flavio Cobolli

Flavio Cobolli in action during Olbia Challenger (📸 OA Sport)

Flavio Cobolli's point to break 4-3 in the first set of the Roland Garros third qualifying round against Laurent Lokoli (left, 📸 France TV Sport), and to take the second set 6-4 during the Milan Challenger final against Facundo Diaz Acosta (right, 📸 ATP Challenger Livestream)

Trying to live up to his discovered potential last year thanks to his aggressive play (and often going deep on important occasions), Cobolli started his season with a second-round run in Pune (250), where he lost against Botic van de Zandschulp 5-7, 4-6. He then started to sparkle in Munich (250), where he ended up as a quarterfinalist (l. Christopher O’Connell), followed by a semifinal showing in Rome (Italy) Challenger (l. Jesper de Jong) and Milan Challenger (l. Facundo Diaz Acosta). In a similar timeframe (clay season, its extension, and Challenger’s own clay season), he also qualified for the Roland Garros, where he ended up being defeated by Carlos Alcaraz 0-6, 2-6, 5-7 in the first round. Fast-forward to the end of July, in almost the same tournament he finally got himself known in Umag (250), he became a quarterfinalist after the loss against Matteo Arnaldi in an all-Italian-NextGen showing.

He then continued his stellar showing in the clay Challengers, where he reached the semifinals in Tulln (l. Sumit Nagal) and won the title in a close encounter in Lisbon (d. Benjamin Hassan 7-5, 7-5), citing Cristiano Ronaldo as his title run inspiration during the post-finals press conference. Furthermore, outside of the clay-court Challengers, he still managed to maintain the streak in the Olbia Challenger, where he was out-paced by Titouan Droguet during the finals, hence his runner-up finish after a 3-6, 4-6 loss. After two early exits in Bergamo and Helsinki Challengers, both of which were indoor hard tournaments, Cobolli had a semifinal showing in Danderyd by defeating Gilles Arnaud Bailly in the first round 6-4, 6-1, advanced to the quarterfinals at the cost of Gauthier Onclin’s withdrawal before winning against Radu Albot 6-4, 7-6(5) in a close encounter that confirmed his NextGen Finals qualification, but was overwhelmed when dealing with eventual champion Maximilian Marterer’s serve+1s in the semifinal.

5. Alex Michelsen

Alex Michelsen in Newport, where he became the runner-up to Adrian Mannarino (📸 ATP Tour)

Alex Michelsen's point to break 2-0 in the second set of the Rome, GA Challenger quarterfinals against Edan Leshem (top left), to take the second set 6-1 in the second Cary Challenger second round against Strong Kirchheimer (top right), and to *2-3 30-30 in the first set of the Knoxville Challenger second round against Gabriel Debru (bottom) (📸 ATP Challenger Livestream).

Starting the year precisely at World No. 600, A. Michelsen’s rise started in the Rome, Georgia (USA) Challenger in February, where he became the runner-up to Jordan Thompson 4-6, 2-6 right after becoming the runner-up of the ITF M25 Malibu (Jan 2) and winning the ITF M15 Edmond, Oklahoma (Jan 23), followed by a semifinal showing in Waco Challenger a week after Rome, GA, which earned him the wild card to the Indian Wells M1000 qualifying (l. Leandro Riedi in Q1). After another solid showing in the ITFs (including a runner-up in M25 Calabasas-Mar 20), A. Michelsen started to get out of his comfort zone and tried the Nottingham Challenger in the grass courts of the United Kingdom (l. Gabriel Diallo in R2 6-3, 5-7, 2-6 as a qualifier) and had a competitive appearance in Mallorca (250) as a qualifier (l. Christopher Eubanks in R1 3-6, 7-6(5), 5-7) before winning his maiden Challenger title in Chicago (d. Yuta Shimizu 7-5, 6-2), further strengthening his explosive and intuitive play as the year progressed.

A week after his Chicago Challenger title, he became a runner-up in the grass courts of Newport (250), where Adrian Mannarino eventually won 6-2, 6-4 and after notably defeating Maxime Cressy, James Duckworth, Mackenzie McDonald, and John Isner from the first round until the semifinals. However, the next few tournaments became tricky with the Top 100 in sight, including a semifinal loss against eventual champion Zachary Svajda in the Cary 2 Challenger. He then got his rewards to finally enter the Top 100 for the first time after winning the Knoxville Challenger title, when he survived four three-setters in five rounds, defeating Denis Kudla 7-5, 4-6, 6-2 as the pinnacle, solidified his position by defeating Bernard Tomic 6-4, 6-0 in the Champaign Challenger’s first round in a rematch of their last week’s close encounter in Knoxville. Ultimately, A. Michelsen became the runner-up of the Champaign Challenger to Patrick Kypson, where he confirmed his NextGen Finals participation, as well as his Australian Open 2024 main draw direct entry likelihood thanks to his Top 100 year-end finish, landing at 94 live.

6. Hamad Medjedovic

Hamad Medjedovic celebrated after defeating Jiri Lehecka in Astana (250) for the biggest win in his career (by then) (📸 ATP Tour via Kazakhstan Tennis Federation)

Hamad Medjedovic's point to 6-5* 15-30 in the second set of the Bengaluru Challenger semifinal against Max Purcell (top left, 📸 ATP Challenger Livestream), to create the break point to *0-1 40-ad in the second qualifying round of Roland Garros against Juan Manuel Cerundolo (top right, 📸 France TV Sport), and to 6-5* 15-0 in the third set of the Danderyd Challenger second round against Jakub Mensik (bottom, 📸 ATP Challenger)

Medjedovic came a long way after his rise last year, winning the Luedenscheid Challenger 2022 by double-breadsticking Zhizhen Zhang, steadily answering the doubt on whether or not he’s breaking even, even if he has Novak Djokovic’s support. After having a slow start to the season (and an even slower second semester of 2022), he started having deep runs in the Bengaluru Challenger, where he was eliminated in the semifinal against eventual champion Max Purcell 2-6, 7-5, 6-7(4). However, he then started his stellar Challenger clay season with a title in Szekesfehervar Challenger (d. Nino Serdarusic 6-4, 6-3), followed by another title in Mauthausen (d. Filip Misolic 6-2, 6-7(5), 6-4) in a rain-ridden dramatic match. To top it off, he qualified for the Roland Garros and Wimbledon but got eliminated against Marcos Giron and Christopher O’Connell in the first round, respectively.

Trying to rise the ranks to the main Tour, he followed those up by having several great runs in the 250s and the Challengers in the second half of 2023, carried by his powerful serve and forehands when they are on (and occasionally, drop shots and volleys to add to his intuitive play). He started with a semifinal run in Gstaad as a qualifier (l. Pedro Cachin 3-6, 1-6, with a notable win against Dominic Thiem in the second round in a rematch of their Mauthausen Challenger semifinal encounter, as well as winning the Mallorca Challenger (d. Harold Mayot 6-2, 4-6, 6-2). He topped those runs off with a semifinal run in Astana (250) (l. Sebastian Korda, with some notable wins against Alexander Shevchenko and Jiri Lehecka in the second round and quarterfinals, respectively) despite the early exits in the last 3 250-level tournaments (Antwerp (250) R1, Basel (500) Q1, and Sofia (250) R1). Subsequently, after defeating Stefano Travaglia 6-4, 6-3 in a chaotic first-round match, he was defeated by fellow up-and-coming NextGen player Jakub Mensik 4-6, 7-6(2), 7-6(8) in the second round, having his 3 match points saved, 2 of them in the second set and one when he should have served for the match. Recognizing his tremendous potential through his aggressive gameplay and often reliable serves, while his usual rollercoaster could be expected, it all depended on his intuition in handling the point construction within the longer rallies if he could not keep it short.

7. Luca Nardi

Luca Nardi won the Porto Challenger title in August this year, gifting himself his birthday present after three hard-fought sets (📸 ATP Tour via Porto Open)

Luca Nardi's point to 6-5* 0-15 in the third set of the Pune Challenger semifinal against Dominik Palan (left) and to take the third set 7-5 in Kobe Challenger against August Holmgren (right) (📸 ATP Challenger Livestream)

Another name with potential being further discovered since last year is Luca Nardi, who answered the doubts coming from his sloppy start of the year by making strides toward the end of the year, thus rewarded with NextGen Finals qualification. He exited in early rounds in the first one-two months of the calendar before reaching the finals of the Pune Challenger, where he became the runner-up to a red-hot Max Purcell 3-6, 2-6. The rollercoaster then continued to the clay season, where he was remembered for being double-bageled by Lorenzo Musetti during the second round as a qualifier during the Monte Carlo M1000, as well as advancing to at least the quarterfinals in several Challengers, notably in Vicenza (l. Pablo Llamas Ruiz) and Milan (l. Matteo Gigante).

Realizing the whole rollercoaster, L. Nardi’s more offensive approach to complement his defenses and return depth started to pay off in Porto Challenger back in August, where he pulled a comeback win against Joao Sousa 5-7, 6-4, 6-1 as a sweet birthday present he gifted himself. Since then, his trajectory has gone back on track by being the semifinalist of the Bratislava 2 Challenger (l. Joris de Loore) and finally took the title in the Matsuyama Challenger in another comeback fashion (d. Taro Daniel 3-6, 6-4, 6-2), securing his NextGen Finals place after his second-round victory in the Kobe Challenger just to start the week (d. August Holmgren 6-3, 3-6, 7-5) before falling to Sho Shimabukuro to the semifinals, showing that his decision to partake in the Japanese Challenger swing paid off for his almost last-minute qualification.

8. Abdullah Shelbayh [WC]

Abdullah Shelbayh during his first-round match in Doha (250) (📸 The Hindu via Abdullah Shelbayh's Instagram post)

Abdullah Shelbayh's point to *5-2 40-40 (one of the break points saves) in the second set of the second-round Tenerife 3 Challenger match against Ryan Peniston (top left), to break 5-2 in the second set of the Manama Challenger semifinal against Salvatore Caruso (top right), and to *0-0 40-ad (second break point) in the Charleston Challenger final against Oliver Crawford (bottom) (📸 ATP Challenger Livestream)

Hailing from Jordan and training in Rafa Nadal Academy under Princess Lara Faisal’s Rise for Good Foundation, Shelbayh exceptionally started the season as a runner-up of the ITF M25 Manacor against Daniel Rincon (Jan 23) in a marathon match to start his positive semester after his remarkable rise kicked off in the second semester of 2022, from winning ITF M25 Monastir on two occasions (Jul 18 & Aug 22, 2022) before closing that year by winning ITF M15 Trnava (Dec 5) against Daniel Rincon, several months after securing his Challenger debut with a semifinal appearance (l. Zizou Bergs, but notably d. 1st seed Dominic Stricker in the first round). The only way was up, which he proved throughout the 2023 season by reaching the second round in Tenerife 3 Challenger as a qualifier (l. Ryan Peniston), ultimately becoming the runner-up in his maiden Challenger final in Manama (l. Thanasi Kokkinakis). He backed this up with his maiden ATP Tour main draw appearance in Doha as a wild card despite the first-round loss against Soonwoo Kwon.

He kept gaining experience as the year passed by from the aforementioned raw potential, making a last-minute decision to partake in the Banja Luka qualification rounds, stunning then-have not broken out (yet) Fabian Marozsan and Lukas Klein in both qualifying rounds before defeating Elias Ymer 6-1, 7-5 in the first round to record his maiden Tour-level victory (as well as becoming the first Jordanian to win a main Tour match) but was eliminated in the hands of Miomir Kecmanovic. He also qualified for the Mallorca (250) event on grass (l. Roman Safiullin in the first round) and went on to win his maiden Challenger title in Charleston (d. Oliver Crawford 6-2, 6-7(5), 6-3), also becoming the first Jordanian Challenger-level champion. His sparkling rise continued through Metz (250) as a qualifier (d. Dan Added & Gijs Brouwer in the qualifying rounds), shocking Hugo Gaston 7-6(5), 6-2 before Lorenzo Sonego defeated him 3-6, 5-7 despite his competitive efforts. Aided by his often impressive point construction (as displayed), when he is on, not only rewarded him his career-high ranking of 187 (attained Nov 20, 2023) but also a wild card to this year’s NextGen Finals as the regional (Middle Eastern) representative.

[taasgirl]

girlfriend, or girl that's a friend? - trent alexander arnold

summary: y/n is klopps duaghter and is in a cheeky relationship with mr arnold

liked by virgilvandijk, taylorhinds, maryearps, and 35, 928 others ynusername i bleed red

trentarnold66 I think everyone bleeds red, love

user56783 Y/N is so incredibly real for that second slide

dominikszoboszlai Surely you leak the starting lineup for next week

user01382 Y/N IS THE MOMENTTTTT

user45292 she's so incredibly real

taylorhinds my bb

ynusername TAYLORRRRR

liked by liverpoolfc, virgilvandijk, andyrobertson, and 338, 012 others trentarnold66 New kits are freshhhh #dad

ynusername minecraft?

user69132 y/n saying what everyone's thinking

ynusername why are there more photos of u and my dad than me and him??

liverpoolfc 🔥🔥

liked by alemacallister, missybokearns, sadiomane, and 44, 291 others ynusername yk its bad when gameday is the only day out

user82031 aww soft launch

liverpoolfc Up the Y/N

leahwilliamson god y/n you can tie ur own laces

ynusername can you tie the other one for me

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liked by user66293, user79281, user91320, and 376 others user17320 my honest reaction to THAT photo of trent...

user80131 real

ynusername guys trust I was as shocked as u

user63821 When u find out the deets, let us know

liked by liverpoolfcw, firmino, virgilvandijk, and 3, 892, 036 others liverpoolfc From the archive... Our 2019/2020 Prem win 🤩

trentarnold66 😍😍

ynusername what a day

user60120 there's not one photo where trent looks bad in liked by ynusername

liked by harveyelliot, mosalah, leahwilliamson, and 33, 809 others ynusername atp my phone is harvey's phone too.

harveyelliott The way that this isn't even a fraction of them 🤣

trentarnold66 Where's our selfie @ harveyelliott??

user56283 bless darwin he looks so shocked 😭😭

liked by ynusername, judebellingham, niko, and 549, 730 others trentarnold66 Life as of late.

chunkz My boyyyyy 🔥

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liked by dominikszoboszlai, sadiomane, trentaronld66, and 47, 287 others ynusername king of my heart, body and soul

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ynusername can you stfu???

user69323 y/n and trent soft launching their partners rn i cant

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liked by virgilvandij, liverpoolfc, ynusername, and 293, 736 others andyrobertson Mi familia

user79213 SORRY???? IS THAT Y/N AND TRENT??

ynusername ANDREW

user02831 huh?

liked by pedri, lottewubbenmoy, darwinnunes, and 66, 872 others ynusername since everyone was so curious @ trentarnold66

trentarnold66 hey baby

user23392 This disgusts me (i'm actually v happy)

andyrobertson IM SORRY

liked by ynusername, dominikszoboszlai, gavi, and 2, 763, 932 others trentarnold66 Finally this soft launch thing is over

trentarnold66 She's so pretty

user61932 the way he commented this on his own post

ynusername 🩷

user76302 my question is - how does klopp feel about this???

put in reqs! i'm working on 'say something pt4' so stay tunned. lmk if you liked this!